WJPA Sports

The WPIAL has finalized its Championship Week schedule, a framework that includes Fort Cherry baseball, Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Carmichaels, Jeff-Morgan & West Greene softball. Each will have their last WPIAL playoff games next week. Baseball championship games start Tuesday at EQT Park with third-place games next door at W&J’s Ross Memorial Park. Most softball third-place games are scheduled for Tuesday at various sites, though the Jeff-Morgan / West Greene game is listed for Wednesday.  The softball championships are Wednesday/Thursday at PennWest California’s Lilley Field. The teams from Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Carmichaels and Fort Cherry have all clinched berths in the PIAA tournaments scheduled to begin June 1. Only the Jeff-Morgan/West Greene winner qualifies for the state softball playoffs.

WPIAL Baseball Brackets 
Tuesday, May 26
1:00 pm 3A Final South Park vs. Ellwood City
1:00 pm 1A Third Place Western Beaver vs. Serra Catholic
4:00 pm 2A Final Fort Cherry vs. Neshannock, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
4:00 pm 2A Third Place Riverview vs. South Side Beaver (winner only qualifies)
7:00 pm 4A Final Indiana vs. Elizabeth-Forward
7:00 pm 4A Third Place Derry Area vs. Hopewell (winner only qualifies)

Wednesday, May 27
1:00 pm 1A Final Eden Christian vs. Greensburg Central Catholic
2:00 pm 5A Third Place Montour vs. Thomas Jefferson
4:00 pm 6A Final Butler vs. North Allegheny
5:00 pm 3A Third Place Avonworth vs. Riverside
7:00 pm 5A Final Upper St. Clair vs. South Fayette

WPIAL Softball Brackets
Tuesday, May 26
3:00 pm 3A Third Place Ellwood City vs. Keystone Oaks at North Allegheny (winner only qualifies)
4:00 pm 5A Third Place West Mifflin vs. Thomas Jefferson at West Mifflin
5:00 pm 2A Third Place Laurel vs. Chartiers-Houston at North Allegheny
7:00 pm 4A Third Place Hampton vs. North Catholic at North Allegheny (winner only qualifies)

Wednesday, May 27
11:45 am 2A Final Bentworth vs. Neshannock, WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here
2:15 pm 5A Final Shaler vs. North Hills
4:00 pm 1A Third Place Jeff-Morgan vs. West Greene at Pleasant Valley (winner only qualifies)
4:30 pm 6A Final Hempfield vs. Seneca Valley

Thursday, May 28
12:00 n 1A Final Union vs. Carmichaels
2:15 pm 3A Final South Park vs. Mt. Pleasant
4:30 pm 4A Final Elizabeth-Forward vs. Blackhawk

Bentworth scored two runs just three batters into the game, then made it stand up, beating Chartiers-Houston in the 2A softball semifinals. Sydney Gonglik doubled to open the game and Sofia Gaussa was hit by a pitch. When the Chartiers-Houston catcher lost a passed ball, Gonglik scored and Gaussa moved to third. Makayla Gonglik singled to make it 2-0, three batters in.  The Bucs got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Taryne Drilak singled to score Lauren Rush before Sydnet Gonglik retired the final four batters to put Bentworth into the WPIAL Final for the second time in three years. Bentworth will play Neshannock. The Lancers have won the last four WPIAL 2A titles.

Carmichaels exploded for nine runs over the final three innings, knocking West Greene into the 3rd place consolation game. Carys McConnell stroked a two-run home run, breaking a scoreless tie in the fourth. The Mikes sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth, then McConnell tripled to drive in a run and scored one batter later in the sixth to set the final score. Carmichaels will play Union, the defending 1A champion. The Scotties have won three of the past four championships. Union knocked Jeff-Morgan into the third-place qualifier, scoring nine times in the first inning.  Watch/Listen Here 

Days & times for the WPIAL Baseball & Softball Championships & PIAA Qualifiers will be released on Friday.

Thursday, May 21–Softball Semifinals — WPIAL Softball Brackets
2A #3 Bentworth > #2 Chartiers-Houston, 2-1  Watch/Listen Here
1A #2 Carmichaels > #3 West Greene, 9-0
1A #1 Union > #5 Jeff-Morgan 17-7 (6)

Fort Cherry scored four times over the first two innings on the way to a 4-1 win over Riverview, putting the Rangers into the WPIAL baseball finals for the first time since their 1986 championship run. Ryan Huey got the win, allowing just one run and three hits over 6.2 innings. The left-hander also drove in one run and scored another for The Fort who will take on Neshannock next week with the 2A title on the line. The Rangers also clinched a berth in the PIAA tournament.

Canon-McMillan trailed 4-0 before getting the bats going, then scored three times in the bottom of the seventh but stranded the potential game-tying run as the Big Macs were eliminated. North Allegheny scored the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh when a two-out flyball was lost in the stadium lights.

Wednesday, May 20–Baseball Semifinals — WPIAL Baseball Brackets 
2A #1 Fort Cherry > #4 Riverview, 4-1  Watch/Listen Here
6A #3 North Allegheny > #2 Canon-McMillan, 4-3  Watch/Listen Here

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit an inside-the-park home run and Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Rookie Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double on Thursday. He also scored a run and stole a base. Braxton Ashcraft struck out nine in seven innings. He gave up one run on four hits. Lowe hit a fastball that bounced off the top of the wall just inside the left-field foul pole in the first inning. It was the sixth inside-the-park homer in the big leagues this season. The Bucs open a three game series in Toronto Friday night.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens pounced for four first-period goals on slow-starting Carolina — coming off the longest postseason break in more than a century — and handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs with a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault scored in the opening four minutes, Alexandre Texier followed four minutes later, and Ivan Demidov finished a breakaway for a 4-1 lead midway through the period. That came against the Eastern Conference’s top seed, which hadn’t allowed more than two goals in an 8-0 playoff start. Juraj Slafkovksy scored twice in the third period for Montreal, the second on a late empty-netter, while Jakub Dobes had 24 saves. Game 2 is Saturday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93. Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their ninth straight game. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.